Seagate Technology Incorporated

Alan Flint

William G Jacobs

Sushil Shah

Quy C Nguyen

Ken Miller

An assembly for transferring discs between disc manufacturing machinery or processes comprises a series of storage cassettes having discs stored therein. Each stored disc is retrieved from the cassette and placed into a shuttle which carries the disc while it is processed. The processed disc is retrieved from the shuttle subsequent to the disc manufacturing process and placed into a second storage cassette. The apparatus transfers the discs by gripping them between a stationary member which engages the edge of the disc and a selectably moveable member which engages the disc hole such that the disc is pinched between the two gripping members. The gripping and transferring functions are controlled by a computer.

Disc loading and unloading assembly

A step-dwell transport apparatus and method for use in an in-line controlled environment processing system is disclosed. The transport apparatus employs a plurality of shuttles arranged in series along two parallel rails. Each shuttle carries one or more planar objects through a process chamber, which contains several in-line processing stations. One of the rails guides a queue of abutting shuttles through the process chamber, while the other rail serves as a return path for another queue of abutting shuttles. The shuttles move along each rail, with locomotion along the rail being provided by a pneumatic cylinder and linkage that periodically pushes forward the trailing shuttle in the queue. Transfer mechanisms are provided at each end of the apparatus to transfer individual shuttles from the end of one rail to the beginning of the other rail. Shuttles are supplied to and withdrawn from the process chamber one at a time through in-line air locks.

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San Diego County, CA, United States of America

Alan Flint